Alessandro Del Piero believes Juventus “will win the Champions League sooner or later with Cristiano Ronaldo. I was surprised to see him sign, but not that surprised.”

The Bianconeri will face Ajax in the quarter-finals after overturning a 2-0 deficit to beat Atletico Madrid 3-2 on aggregate with a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick.

“It was a huge achievement with Atletico, but those who already know this club were not surprised,” Del Piero told Marca.

“We know the club, the mentality, the players and that everything is possible. It wasn’t simple, they had to put in the perfect performance and Atletico simply disappeared.

“This Juve side is making history and the Champions League trophy will arrive eventually. Cristiano Ronaldo was brought in for this, however, if it doesn’t happen this season, that won’t necessarily make it a failure. That is too harsh a word and I wouldn’t say that.

“The project is to win it with Cristiano in the side and his contract is for a few years, so there’s time. Obviously, it’s better if it comes sooner rather than later…”

Del Piero was playing when Juventus last won the tournament, beating Ajax on penalties in Rome in 1996.

“That was a different time and football has changed so much in the intervening years. Ajax had already won the Champions League then and had so many talents that in a couple of years would be at bigger clubs. The way this current Ajax side beat Real Madrid in the last round was fantastic, though.

“It’s going to be a tough task, but this Juve was one of the candidates to win the Champions League from the very beginning. They built a very strong squad and added Cristiano Ronaldo to it.

“He is a champion who has won everything, he knows how to play these games. Juve signed him in order to pursue the Champions League and so far the plan is working well.

“I will admit, I was surprised to see him come to Juve, but ultimately not that surprised. Cristiano wanted a club that was valued all over the world, so choosing Juve was a great idea.”